Restaurant in Pasai Donibane, Spain
OAD-ranked port lunch. Book ahead.
Casa Cámara is a Basque seafood restaurant in Pasai Donibane ranked on Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list three years running (as high as #24 in 2023), with a 4.6 Google rating across 1,641 reviews. Lunch is the right visit — five days a week, easy to pair with a day trip from San Sebastián. Book ahead: the room is small and fills predictably.
Yes — and it's one of the clearer calls you can make when eating your way through the Basque coast. Casa Cámara is a Basque seafood restaurant in Pasai Donibane, a compact fishing village just east of San Sebastián, and it earns consistent recognition from Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list: ranked #24 in 2023, #126 in 2024, and #101 in 2025. That movement tells you something about a competitive category, but the Google rating of 4.6 across 1,641 reviews confirms the experience holds up at volume. Chef Alberto Salinas runs the kitchen. If you've eaten here once and found it good, it's worth coming back with more intention about what you order and when you sit down.
Pasai Donibane is a working port, and Casa Cámara sits on the main waterfront street — Donibane Kalea , at number 79. The setting is physical in a way that a city restaurant can't replicate: the village is narrow, the harbour is close, and the dining room reflects that compactness. This is not a sprawling space. Seating is finite, the room is close-quartered, and the atmosphere comes from the combination of proximity and the quality of what arrives at the table, not from production design. If you're returning after a first visit, consider timing your lunch booking to arrive early in the service window rather than at peak, when the room fills and noise rises. The lunch window runs from 1:30 to 3:15 pm Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday lunch closing slightly earlier at 3 pm. Friday and Saturday are the only days with evening service, from 8:30 to 10:15 pm.
For most visitors, lunch is the right answer. The village is easier to reach and more alive during the day, the light on the water is at its leading, and lunch service runs five days a week compared to dinner's two. If you're building a day trip from San Sebastián , a reasonable and well-trodden approach , a midweek lunch at Casa Cámara gives you the full experience without fighting Friday or Saturday evening crowds. Dinner on a Friday or Saturday is a valid option if you're already staying nearby and want to extend the evening, but it's a smaller window and books accordingly. Weekend lunch on Saturday runs the full 1:30 to 3:15 pm slot, making it the most flexible option for travellers who can't do weekdays.
Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list is one of the more credible signals in this tier of restaurant, drawn from a network of serious eaters rather than a single editorial team. Casa Cámara's 2023 ranking of #24 in that category was a high-water mark; the subsequent positions at #126 and then #101 suggest the venue has settled into a consistent mid-tier position in a list that includes hundreds of entries across the continent. For Basque seafood specifically, that's meaningful: this is a region with intense competition in the casual seafood category, and holding a position on the list at all requires sustained quality. It doesn't mean every visit is perfect, but it does mean the kitchen performs reliably.
Reservations: Booking ahead is advisable, particularly for weekend lunch and Friday or Saturday dinner , the room is small and fills predictably. Walk-in availability is possible on quieter midweek lunch slots, but don't count on it without a backup plan. Hours: Lunch Tuesday to Saturday 1:30–3:15 pm; Sunday lunch 1:30–3 pm; dinner Friday and Saturday 8:30–10:15 pm; closed Monday. Budget: Specific prices are not confirmed in available data , expect Basque seafood casual pricing, which in this region typically means a meaningful spend per head at lunch with wine. Getting there: Pasai Donibane is accessible from San Sebastián by local bus or taxi; the village itself is pedestrian-friendly once you arrive. Dress: No stated dress code; smart casual is appropriate given the setting.
See the comparison section below for how Casa Cámara sits relative to other options in the region.
For more options in the area, see our full Pasai Donibane restaurants guide, hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Casa Cámara | — | |
| Aponiente | €€€€ | — |
| Arzak | €€€€ | — |
| Azurmendi | €€€€ | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | €€€€ | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
The kitchen focuses on Basque seafood, so diners with seafood allergies or strict dietary requirements should flag this before booking. There is no published menu or dietary policy in the available record. Communicate restrictions at the time of reservation — a small specialist restaurant like this does better with advance notice than improvisation on the day.
The room is small, so groups should book well in advance — this is not a venue that absorbs a party of eight without planning. check the venue's official channels to confirm capacity and any group arrangements; phone details are not publicly listed, so reaching out via reservation channels as early as possible is the practical approach.
Book the Saturday lunch service and arrive knowing the room is small and fills predictably. Casa Cámara sits on the working waterfront at Donibane Kalea 79 in Pasai Donibane — a genuine port village, not a tourist strip. It has ranked on Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list three consecutive years (reaching #24 in 2023), which signals a serious kitchen without the formality of a tasting-menu destination.
Yes, with the right expectations set. This is a Basque seafood house on a working port, not a white-tablecloth tasting-menu room — if that format suits the occasion, it delivers. Its OAD Casual Europe ranking (#101 in 2025) gives it a credential that makes the trip feel intentional rather than incidental. For a milestone that calls for a full tasting menu and service theatre, Azurmendi or Arzak would be a better fit.
Pasai Donibane is a small village and Casa Cámara is the standout address on the OAD radar there. For Basque seafood at a higher price point, Arzak in San Sebastián is the comparison. For a day-trip lunch of similar casual-serious character, look at what else OAD Casual Europe ranks in Gipuzkoa — the list is a reliable filter for this tier.
Lunch. The village is more accessible and alive during the day, and lunch is available Tuesday through Sunday — dinner is only offered Friday and Saturday. For visitors making a day trip from San Sebastián, the midday service (1:30–3:15 pm) is the practical and more atmospheric choice.
No bar-seating option is documented for Casa Cámara. Given the room size and the format of service (set lunch windows, small covers), this operates as a sit-down restaurant rather than a pintxos-bar-style counter. Walk-in bar eating is not a format to rely on here — booking a table is the right approach.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
